Dallas to Play Host to Strive Cradle to Career Convening
Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) September 24, 2013 -- More than 350 educators, elected officials, community leaders, business leaders and others representing 63 communities in 35 states and the District of Columbia are expected to attend the 4th annual Strive Cradle to Career Network Convening September 25-27 at the Fairmont Dallas downtown.
Strive, a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, works with communities nationwide and helps them create a civic infrastructure to unite stakeholders around shared goals, measures and results in education, supporting the success of every child, cradle to career. Huffington Post Executive Business Editor Peter S. Goodman once described Strive’s work this way: “Put concerned people in one room, agree upon statistically definable goals, and then coordinate action and spend the dollars to hit the targets.”
This year’s event seeks to allow communities to share successes and challenges with one another, noted by its theme -- “Gateways to Quality: Raising the Bar of Collective Impact Together.” Workshops and plenary sessions are designed around helping communities improve outcomes. The agenda can be found online.
Jeff Edmondson, Managing Director of Strive, said he looks forward to seeing communities share best practices, as well as hearing from national education, business and community leaders.
“We have all come together to positively impact the lives of children by identifying what they need most to succeed and helping communities replicate success,” Edmondson said. “This year, we have a robust line-up of speakers and presenters who will share innovative ways to help communities be more efficient and effective at achieving their goals.”
The event is open to the press, and @strivenetwork will be micro blogging. Follow the convening under the Twitter hash tag, #StriveC2C.
A key luncheon plenary on September 26, titled, “Social Impact Bonds: How Civic Infrastructure Helps Sites Get Ready for Creative Financing,” will discuss ways communities can build civic infrastructure through social impact bonds, a creative financing tool where investment firms invest in the public sector to help solve complex social problems. Representatives from The United Way of Salt Lake City, Social Finance and Third Sector Capital Partners will discuss how they developed the nation’s first social impact bonds.
Event signature sponsors include Target and Rainwater Charitable Foundation; platinum sponsors are MetLife Foundation, and Schusterman Family Foundation. Texas Instruments is a gold sponsor of the event.
Participants include Mike Rawlings, Mayor, City of Dallas; Jim Shelton, Acting Deputy Secretary for the Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education; Todd Williams, executive director of the Commit! Partnership in Dallas; Matt Williams, Vice President of Policy and Communications at KnowledgeWorks; and Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor of the State University of New York and a co-founder of Strive.
Todd Williams, who has led Dallas’ cradle to career backbone organization since its 2012 founding, said he is honored that Dallas is hosting this year’s convening because it is a reflection of the region’s long-term commitment to make a difference in the lives of kids.
“In Dallas, more than 100 partners have agreed to come together to measure what matters, identify effective practices, and align resources so that our kids can have the supports they need,” Williams said. “We look forward to sharing what we have learned with our peers across the country, and learning from them as well.”
Dallas is one of more than 90 communities across the United States that is actively engaged in Strive.
Edmondson will speak at the opening session of the event at 8 a.m., Thursday, September 26, and will be joined by Mayor Rawlings, representatives from the Commit! Partnership, and Zimpher.
Strive, a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, works with communities nationwide to help them create a civic infrastructure that unites stakeholders around shared goals, measures and results in education, supporting the success of every child, cradle to career. Communities implementing the Strive framework have seen dramatic improvements in kindergarten readiness, standardized test results, and college retention. For more information about Strive, visit http://www.strivenetwork.org.
Byron McCauley, Knowledgeworks, http://knowledgeworks.org, 513-504-8915, [email protected]
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